June 2017

APAC / June 2017 121 , The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international cultural relations organisation, founded in 1934. They have offices in 229 towns and cities in 110 countries and territories worldwide. They have been inHong Kong since 1948. We profiled the firm to find out more about their fascinating history, from 1948 to the present day. Trust and Mutual Respect British Council in Hong Kong is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations, setting out to continue and strengthen the relationship of trust between Hong Kong and the UK. They do this by creating connections between Hong Kong and the best of the UK’s great cultural assets, including English, education, the arts and – a newer priority – social entrepreneurship. They believe that these links help strengthen trust between Hong Kong and the UK, and allow for mutual insights and learning. They are proud to have been doing this in Hong Kong since 1948. All their project activity is undertaken in close partnership with Hong Kong entities and individuals. The goal is to deliver innovative and creative programmes, which are of mutual benefit. In addition, they are clear, that what underpins their successes are the relationships of trust and mutual respect that have been built up over the decades in Hong Kong. Finally, you will find below a list of some of the firm’s key milestones, from the year of their inception right up to the present day. 1948 - The British Council opened its headquarters in Hong Kong, with an aim to strengthen cultural relations between Chinese and British people. 1949 - The first British Council library in Hong Kong started its operation in February in Statue Square. It contained sections on arts, music, history, literature, biography, philosophy and politics and was open to the public. 1976 - The first British Council English Teaching Centre in Hong Kong was open in the Easey Commercial Building, in Wan Chai. 1987 - The British Council held its first Education UK exhibition in Hong Kong. Today, the twice- yearly exhibitions are among the largest of their kind in Asia. 1992 - The British Council’s Science Alive programme was organised for the first time in collaboration with the Education Bureau and sponsored by the Croucher Foundation. This annual science education programme invites leading UK science academics and communicators to present interactive lectures and workshops to students and teachers in Hong Kong, aiming to promote fun and easy ways to learn science. 1997 - The British Council’s building was open at 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty. It housed state-of-the-art teaching and examination rooms plus multi- purpose facilities. 2005 - The British Council became one of the first organisations in Hong Kong to offer a 10-day paternity leave and 20-day adoption leave policy for staff members. 2008 - The British Council celebrated its 60th anniversary with a party which gathered over 250 VIP guests, including most of the celebration 60 alumni and many local partners and friends. 2009 - FameLab, an international Science communication competition co- organised by the British Council and the Cheltenham Festival, was launched as part of the Science Alive programme. 2011 - The IELTS Scholarship was launched to support outstanding Hong Kong/ Macau students for overseas undergraduate/ postgraduate study. 2012 - The British Council co-organised the London 2012 Olympic Posters Exhibition with Cyberport in celebration of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. 2013 - The British Council introduced the highly flexible adult English course ‘myClass’, which allows students selecting the class date, time, topic and even teacher per their preference and schedule. The first global computer-based Cambridge English, Starters examination, was also launched. Company: British Council Name: Sabrina Ma Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.britishcouncil.hk Telephone: +852 2913 5100 1701AP11